I have a problem that doesn’t sound so bad at first sight but bear with me, it is nerve wrecking. I’m also sure that I am not the only one handling with this question so you might learn something from this. Or maybe you have some groundbreaking tips for me. The problem is that I have made some money and now I don’t know where to invest it when the interests of bank accounts are near the bottom. Or should I just play it safe and hide the money under my mattress.

I know there are a lot of options at the market but which one would be the best for an amateur investor? A neverending challenge: maximum profit with minimum risk. Of course it depends on how much I am willing to risk for the profit and how much extra money I can invest. Today, February 26th 2016 Taloussanomat, published an article about this (Esa 2016). According to some experts in the article, it is very difficult to get any riskless profit at the moment.

Antti Lahtinen, the CEO of The Finnish Shareholders Association says that if I would choose to invest in shares it would be best to diversify the investment in at least ten different companies. For me it sounds quite an obvious thing to do to decrease the risk. If one company doesn’t give me any profit, there are still nine others which may be profitable. Sounds pretty good huh? Small risk and ten possibilities to make some money. On the other hand, as Nordea’s private sector’s economist Olli Kärkkäinen points out, if you buy different stocks regularly you will inevitably buy them at good times as well as bad. (Esa 2016) So of course there is a chance that I could lose most of my money even if I had diversified my investment.

One option which I think includes quite a small risk is to invest in an apartment. Yes, the investment is a big one since you can not get an apartment for less than a 100 000 euros depending on the city. Regularly profits are almost guaranteed with this investment. In most Finnish cities there is a lack of rental apartments so you can rent the apartment and gain profits with that. Also if the apartment has a good location, the value of the apartment might increase. Buying an apartment is usually a very long term investment so it’s not the best option if I, or you there would need the extra money in a few years.

One thing I can guarantee for you. Do not buy a car as an investment! Only exception is if the bought car is one of a kind and usually at least as old as your grandmother. Then the value might increase. Normally the value of the car decreases quicker than you can count.

Other opinions are highly appreciated as I am a car enthusiast. Although the only person I trust in this case is myself so it is pretty useless.

So to sum up today’s discoveries. At the moment it is very difficult to predict how the stock markets are going to change. By diversifying you can decrease the risk but also the possibility for big profits decreases. In addition, you have to decide whether to invest on a long term basis or if you are planning to just getting some profits in a year or two. An apartment with a good location is a good investment at the moment for anyone. Just remember three things: location, location and location.

Since I am a young student, people expect me to do something stupid with my money like going to Estonia to buy some reasonable priced beer. Which by the way isn’t stupid at all, in fact it’s like putting money in the bank. I highly recommend it to all you reading this. As I mentioned at the beginning, one option is to hide the money in my bed and now when even that starts to sound like a great thing to do I think it is best for me to go and get some sleep to clear my head.